TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

HILDESHEIM is a relatively big metropolis, bigger than Hameln, and situated to the north towards Hamburg. The city is a lively mix of modern and ancient architecture. The pretty Hildesheim market square. Popularly known for its university, the ‘Rose Route’, cathedral and Michaelis’ church recognized and now listed as one of UNESCO’s cultural heritages of mankind, and lastly but not the least, its impressive historical market square, the heart of Hildesheim where you can stand in awe and stare at the magnificent buildings for hours. The market square just started to fill up with local tourists. The market square has the most beautiful half-timbered buildings in Germany (they say) - humongous and grandiose buildings covered with conspicuous ornate designs and eye-catching paintings and sculptures protuberant from the façade in flamboyant colors. You can stare up at them and marvel at the details and the remarkable painstaking work artists have labored for each piece of art. Lovely detai...

We stayed in BAD PYRMONT , a chic and up-market village in a romantic and hilly part of Weserbergland region in Niedersachsen. The place has a very special charm wrapped around her. She reminds me of Blomendaal and Bussum in the Netherlands where picturesque mansions and huge houses are sprawled all over the place. The Hylligen Born (Holy Source of Spring Water) in Brunnenplatz forms the focal point of Bad Pyrmont. To reach the Centrum, you will have to pass through the beautiful stately homes and drive all the way down to the basin of the valley where the Hylligen Born is located. Here you will find elegant shops and luxurious garden parks. This convivial town is also known for its medicinal springs and therapeutic health spa garden resorts. Natural remedies are offered here for centuries. They say that the path to healing, recovery, and rejuvenation leads to Bad Pyrmont. The perfect hideaway after a hectic week at work! Too bad I live so far away, but Veluwe and Limburg wou...

You can’t stay put for weeks in the Netherlands without going away for a weekend, where, for a change, there are sprawling valleys, steep cliffs, and impressive mountain views. Hameln Centrum on a Saturday afternoon. My first stop-over for this weekend getaway was the medieval town of HAMELN , Hamelin in English, the city famous for its legendary character, the Pied Piper, who drove all the rats away to the Weser River. When the relieved (from rats) town residents turned their backs and refused the Pied Piper the amount of money they originally promised him to pay, he came back with a deadly vengeance. He led 130 children out of the once rat-infested town into a cave and disappeared... never, ever, to be seen again. This is a nice bird’s eye view of Hameln from the Klutturm Church tower. For a splendid view of the city, a visit high up the Klutturm tower is a must! Children are free of charge and adults pay €1 each. Just a little bit of warning though, climbing up the Klutturm tower ...

Griep [flu] is in. I caught the bug from the Dutchman last weekend but doing a lot better now. Because of that let’s celebrate the fall season – the season of Griep! Here are a few fotos I took in Amersfoort when I was there for a meet a couple of weeks ago: The kamperbinnenpoort, the entrance to the shopping lane. The medieval city of Amersfoort is located northeast of Utrecht and is part of Utrecht province. The city is famous for its fortified charming Centrum and three antiquated city gates. I only had the chance to take a foto of one city gate, and this is the kamperbinnenpoort. A ‘gezellig’ cafe terrace in the Centrum. Fall has a twirl of mystery draped around her. Well, wearing 3-inches heels didn’t really encouraged me to wander around longer than I would have wanted to. Herfst [Fall]

The weather man on TV news Utrecht, he is by the way one of my favorite characters on TV, said it will be a great Saturday, 16C, sunny and dry. This would be a good start, I told myself, a good start for my long overdue running and brisk walking fitness program. Sporting, exercising, and any activity that requires my bum to vigorously move around are not my usual kind of thing, unfortunately. My mother did not spit me out of this world to torture my muscles. People close to me would laugh seeing me in a sports outfit and a pair of trainers. It’s like that punk singer Pink taking ballet lessons and wearing the tutu with high pointy heels. They just don’t match up. At home Dutchman would always make fun of me, “When will you ever start this fitness program of yours?” When he puts 80’s music on the player, I would usually jump off the seat and start dancing, and the next thing I know he would burst into trickles of mean laughter, “Tjonge-jonge-jonge, is this what you call fitness program?...

I am crazy over salads! At work I make them with gusto. I rarely go out to eat during lunch breaks, instead, I bring food from home and buy the rest of the salad ingredients at a nearby supermarket. Tomatoes, capers, marinated artichokes, Italian salametto dried sausage, green olives, cucumber, above heaps of rucola leaves. The only ingredient lacking here are cheese flakes, either grana padano or parmigiano reggiano. In my previous job, the office was nestled in between the flower fields of North Holland and the nearest supermarket is a 30 minute walk. Because of this we have our own cafeteria and exclusive cook. During winter, and to carry us throughout the cold grey day, the cook would fix us rich and filling types of warm food - soup, uitsmijter, and nasi. I’d like to blame the cook. That was the start of my inevitable struggle with the weighing scale, which up to this day continues to be a big challenge. Why oh why is eating such a hard habit to break? *sigh* Tomorrow Saturday I a...

Let’s talk about food for a change. Don’t worry; its not Dutch food as there is nothing much to talk about it anyway (lol), but food from laid-back and delightful southern Europe. I have recently converted myself to become one of the disciples of the Italian cuisine. Pizzas and pastas are not my thing but I totally adore the ambrosial Italian antipastis! Well tonight, I did some food experimentation. I am not the greatest cook that walked on the face of the earth but I do enjoy the daily cooking activity -- something we always joke about by the way, that I should get extra domestic chores seeing as cooking would not fall under real housework for me. Here’s what I whipped up for dinner tonight. A mix of yummy Italian antipasti with pasta. Looks more like a pasta salad - grilled onions, aubergine, courgette, fresh tomatoes, and artichokes, olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Speaking of my cooking abilities, Dutchman has only praises, except for this one particular occasion a cou...

Since pepper spray is classified as a dangerous weapon in the Netherlands, thus not allowed to be sold and distributed, and therefore bear no legal rights to be carried in this country, even under the self-defense clause (hear ye, hear ye: if caught in possession, you can be penalised and imprisoned up to 4 years! sigh - this little country is a complicated place to live in, I swear), this cool alarm gadget serves as the perfect alternative. Bought in Kruidvat - these safety gadgets are going for €2.99 only. Pull the metal chain from the pen and a loud, sharp, and piercing sound comes off. Highly recommended if you live in a densely populated jungle of a place where petty crimes are a continuing challenge. hshhjfggfjjhghhfdweonsbjwa Of course this entry is not complete without the Dutchman’s judicious and critical (typically Dutch) opinion. He said that in reality most people just do not have enough time or the trained reflex to quickly react and use this gadget when faced with an uns...

My feet were itching again last weekend -- I am dying to explore a picturesque borough! And even though the weather was grey and dreary, it has its lucky charm for the day. It was dry, and on Sunday afternoon, the sun stooped low and sent a few warm rays along our way. With the many beautiful villages the Netherlands has to offer, it is indeed a daunting yet irresistible task for this history and cultural devotee to choose which reward to unwrap and discover this time. So I turned to the book Dutch sister loaned me for help - Het Toppunt van Nederland . What am I searching? I am looking for a charming village with an appealing history, a countryside feel, scenic (of course), and should not be far from the city of Utrecht. A write up about Wijk bij Duurstede caught my eye. The municipality is about 22 kilometers down southeast of Utrecht. It says this town has the most number of castles in the country – 15! Most are located in the little village of Langbroek (which I still have to visit...